2007 NHL Draft Recap

The big question in Montreal going into the draft was, ''If Angelo Esposito is available at #12 will the Canadiens draft him?'' I thought the answer to that would be Yes; that being said I didn't think Ryan McDonagh would be available at #12. The majority of teams had MacDonagh in their Top 10. He is the best puck moving d-man in the draft and he has NHL size and strength. Those are 3 key attributes. I am not surprised the Canadiens selected a defenceman and a forward in Round 1. Thats the direction I thought they would take. But like I said, since I thought MacDonagh would be selected early; I thought Montreal would take Esposito at #12 and defenceman Tommy Cross at #22. The Canadiens scouted Cross a lot and he was on their list. But their #1 choice was Ryan McDonagh and I agree with their pick.

As for Angelo Esposito; my heart went out to the kid when the Canadiens passed on him at 12. There were a lot of reasons to draft him: local kid, habs fan, wanted to play here, already 6ft1 185, centre, talented, etc....etc...Once again, I wont blame the Canadiens for passing at 12; but I believe they should have done everything possible to make a move to grab him right after. We're hearing the Canadiens tried to make a move but couldnt find a partner. I think they waited too long. I will give you an example. Edmonton had the #15 pick. They selected d-man Alex Plante from the WHL. The Canadiens could have offered Pick #22 and #43, in exchange for Edmonton's #15. Chances are Edmonton would have made the trade. Why? Because Plante was rated #28 by ISS; chances are he would have been there at #22. One day, if Esposito has success the Canadiens will tell you that he wasn't available at #22. The fact of the matter is the Canadiens didnt want him bad enough. If they did, they could have swung a deal. What's funny is Esposito wasn't good enough for Montreal, but he was for Pittsburgh, who already has Crosby, Malkin and Staal. Angelo, congratulations! Going to Pittsburgh will be great for your career. One day, you will win a Stanley Cup. Good Luck.

On another note, the Toronto Maple Leafs continue to make the wrong choices. The Leafs were looking for a goalie. They swung a deal with San Jose and obtained goalie Vesa Toskala and forward Mark Bell. In return, they gave up their 1st round pick and other picks. Think of this: Toskala makes 1.4 this year and is UFA after that. Mark Bell, is a problem player and expensive at 2.2. Thats a total of 3.6 for a problem player and a goalie you might only hold on to for 1 year. Later in the day, the Florida Panthers obtained goalie Tomas Vokoun, in return they gave up a 1st round pick in 2008 and 2 other picks. Whats important here is that Nashville didnt want a 1st round pick in the O7 Draft. Vokoun, is one of the best goalies in the league. He has a contract for the next 4 years at a cap hit of 5.7 per season. Basically, instead of picking up 3.6M in Salary; Toronto could have traded for Vokoun, only costing 2.1M more per season. Toronto, would keep their #13 pick and could have selected Russian winger Alexei Cherepanov. Think of it: Toskala and Bell or Vokoun and Cherepanov. Toronto blows it again!

Speaking of Cherepanov. This kid has unbelieveable skill and the NY Rangers got an absolute steal at #17. This kid will make a lot of teams regret their selections.

Im filling in for Mitch Melnick on Monday, June 25th between 4pm and 7pm; we'll talk more about the draft then.

Enjoy your day...

Stanley Cup and Canadian Grand Prix....

I went against the Ottawa Senators for the first 3 rounds of the playoffs. In the Final, I paid them the ultimate respect by saying they would lose to Anaheim in 7. To be honest, I am not surprised that Anaheim won as easily as they did. For one I was not sold on Spezza and Heatley; they made me eat my words for 3 rounds and when the going got tough; they collapsed. Im not surprised. The two players are talented but the jury is still out on them. To be honest, I am not surprised that Anaheim won as easily as they did....Don't believe me? Checkout my playoff hockey pool. www.officepools.com (login: team990)(password: montreal).I have believed in Anaheim for a long time. They had all the right ingredients and elements. They worked hard and stuck to the gameplan. The 2nd line of Getzlaf, Perry and Penner is so good and they'll be together for a while...The year Pittsburgh won the Crosby Sweepstakes; Anaheim got the 2nd pick and drafted Bobby Ryan. Imagine if they would have won the Draft Lottery? Think for 1 second....Crosby on Anaheim,,,,scary isn't it. Speaking of Crosby, I think his Penguins will be a force in the East for the next 2 years. In the West, I think Anaheim will be the best team for the next two years as well. Message to Teemu Selanne: Congrats on the Cup; well deserved. If thats your last game its fitting that you go out a Champion.

On the show today; Pj and I debated whether F1 Drivers are athletes. PJ said they weren't; I disagreed. Of course they are. Their fitness is impeccable; their eye-hand coordination is unreal; their focus is superb; their mental toughness is tremendous. For all those reasons and more; F1 Drivers are definitely athletes.

After the show; I went to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Ile Notre Dame to take in the 2nd free practice session....I saw Michael Schumacher; he was visiting. Tried to get a quote or two from him; he's not a jovial guy...at least not with the media...other celebs included: Max, who supposedly plays the role of Tony Soprano's driver. Former Habs GM Serge Savard visited with Ferrari as well....

As much as I appreciate F1...its not fun working this event. We get extremely little cooperation from the teams. For one; Ferrari only spoke to Italian and Brazilian media at Pit Lane. And, over at Mclaren there was 50 reporters tackling each other to get a few clips...I got hit in the head from a few television cameras and it wasn't fun. Not too mention the 38 degree temperature making it tough....Im hoping for a good race on Sunday....not expecting any surprises...it will be McLaren or Ferrari again....

In ending, last week I was given an assignment by our GM at the station. He asked me to write a piece titled, ''If I were Bob.'' referring to Canadiens GM Bob Gainey and what moves I would try to make to revamp the Habs over the next month. The article will be posted on www.team990.com

On Monday, I am filling in for Mitch Melnick between 3pm and 7pm. It will give us a chance to discuss the article and talk about the Canadian Grand Prix. Enjoy the race everybody. Talk to you then.

My heart says Ottawa...my head says Anaheim.

I am 0 for 3 against Ottawa in this years playoffs. Those are my only wrong predictions. I think I know why I went against them too. I have no Sens in my playoff pool. As a matter of fact it was my intention to take some but it just didnt work out that way...when that happens you need to change your strategy. I liked Buffalo and Anaheim for the longest time and thought Buffalo would win in 7. Not because they were better but only because the past couple of seasons have shown us that Western teams run out of gas in the end. This year the crazy schedule saw Anaheim get 6 days off before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final....Ottawa got 9 days off. Its insane. ATTENTION GARY BETTMAN: I love Hockey....I can guarantee you, I love it more than you do. All that being said, hockey should not be played in the month of June. Either start the regular season 2 weeks earlier OR cut down divisional games for 8 to 6. That leaves you with a 74 game season. Neither will happen, but it should. Hockey played in June just doesnt make sense.

On the ice: I think its Anaheim year. I have always questioned the character and backbone of Spezza and Heatley. So far they have made me eat my words. But, this time around the challenge is particularly big. They will go up against PAHLSSON, R.NIEDERMAYER and T.MOEN; they're the best shutdown line in the league....not too mention PRONGER & S.NIEDERMAYER on D against them....these guys are 2 of the TOP 3 D-Men in the world....and should they make it past all of these guys they still have to beat JIGGY...who'se as hot as a firecracker right now in goal for Anaheim. The Sens will need their 2nd line to step up...I think they can BUT I love Anaheims 2nd line of Getzlaf-Perry and Penner...they can cycle like no other line can.

I will be in Ottawa covering game 4 and game 6 if necessary....Im pretty excited. Not everyday a reporter has the chance to work the Cup Game. Would be awesome if the series ends in 4 or 6 so I can be a part of it.

Ottawa has a great group of guys....its a terrific organization, they have an awesome locker room and an extremely sympathetic coach....My heart says Ottawa BUT I have liked Anaheim's team for the longest time. IMO, Anaheim has the best package of skill, size and grit.....Anaheim in 7.

Enjoy the Final everybody.

Sabres can thank Ryan Miller

Good to talk to you again....as you know my predictions for RD 3 were Buffalo in 7 and Anaheim in 7.....of course both are still possible.....but lets face it; it doesnt look good.

Anaheim has trouble scoring and have lost 1st liner Chris Kunitz.....to boot they have lost Chris Pronger for Game 4 and that wont help. I thought Pronger should be suspended....was somewhat surprised that the NHL indeed suspended him,,,,,but if the NHL wants to make a real statement they have to start making the punishments a lot heavier,,,,,one day; and hopefully that day never comes; someone will die on the ice.....at which point the NHL will wonder where it all went wrong.....start with longer suspensions and costlier ones....if u do that, players will think twice.

i was in ottawa last nite....the atmosphere was much better than game 3....but still not good enough....everyone was waiting to celebrate.....unfortunately for them it didnt happen.....but the Sens are playing so well right now that they can celebrate soon......as for The Scotia Bank Place, that arena is so quiet compared to The Bell Centre....here in Montreal the building is buzzing and rocking 20 mins before the game...in Ottawa, the most noise takes place when a fellow named Bobby Lalonde plays his violin or whatever instrument it is.....Stanley Cup Playoffs...Semi Finals...Game 4.....1 win away for a Stanley Cup Final.....and people only make noise for Bobby Lalonde.....r u kidding me? i mentionned this to a few people in Ottawa and they dont appreciate it....an Ottawa resident asked me last nite, ''How loud has The Bell Centre been lately?''....u know what, let them take shots at Montreal...they have suffered and waited a long time...its their turn.

i do want to take this opportinity to tip my hat to the entire Ottawa Senators Organization....the players and media have a tremendous relationship....its so laid back, it realy is a pleasure covering that team,....quick story: when Antoine Vermette was drafted, he was given a quick course on Relations with the Media....the course was given by Roy Mlakar (CEO of the Sens). Mlakar, told Vermette be good to the media, this is the way we do it in Ottawa,.....i hope the execs with the Montreal Canadiens read this.....trust me its nite and day.....

I have a lot of admiration for Sabres Goalie Ryan Miller. He continues to battle and give his team a chance.....this guy is an incredible goaltender.....i no longer like Buffalo's chances, but with Miller standing on his head,,,,,the Sabres and their fans can still believe.....this guy is that good.

Been a fun past 2 days....yesterday, Randy ''The Natural'' Couture, UFC Champion was in studio...today, we were visited by Sylvain Grenier of WWE and former Olympian Bruny Surin....It was great to have them; 3 stand up individuals.....its always nice having the guys visit us.

back on air tomorrow....im going to do some prep work now,.,,,watch the game tonite and talk to you tomorrow between 11am and 1pm. Ciao!

L'affaire Shane Doan and Previewing RD3

This past week I listened to the other guys on french radio and watched the show at 11pm, just to get a feel for what people were saying regarding the Shane Doan Affair. I cant believe all the garbage I heard. Take you back 17 months, 4 french officials are working the Phoenix-Montreal game at the Bell Centre. Midway thru the game, Ladislav Nagy refers to the officials as F'in Frenchmen. At which point, the refs say no more of this stuff or you're in trouble. Late in the game, Coyotes goaltender Curtis Joseph argues over a penalty; Shane Doan comes over and says ''Cuje, four french refs in Montreal....what do you expect?'' After the game, the NHL referee report states Shane Doan used the slur F'in Frenchmen. The slur, was indeed said; but Shane Doan didnt say it. Next thing you now, a bunch of clowns in The House of Commons are upset that Shane Doan was named Captain for Canada at The World Hockey Championships. I worked that Phoenix-Montreal game and a couple of months ago, I talked to Mike Johnson about it. Johnson, was on the ice for Phoenix at the time. Johnson is a straight arrow. He swore to me that someone did indeed say it; but it wasnt him nor was it Shane Doan. The guys know nothing about Shane Doan. The guy is as good as it gets. Its sad to see they are guestioning his character and bringing him down just for the sake of trying to get a few votes down the line. It was nice to see some NHLers from Quebec like Daniel Briere and Denis Gauthier state there was no way Doan would say such a thing. In the meantime, Im hoping for 3 things to come out of this. (#1) the guy who said it, stand up and admit it. (#2) shane doan gets a public apology. (#3) they talk about bettering education and healthcare at The House of Commons.

As for the NHL Playoffs, I went 3 for 4. Only mistake was NJ. Ottawa was clearly better....cant believe Ray Emery outgoaltended Martin Brodeur, but he did. Brodeur, let in many bad goals. Next year, the Devils should think twice about using the 35 year old as much as they do. Simply put, he seemed like a tired goalie down the stretch. Going into the playoffs, my prediction was Buffalo over Anaheim for the Cup. I wont sway away from that. Buffalo beats Ottawa in 7. And, Anaheim will down Detroit in 7 as well.

Some final words on Mayweather - De La Hoya. I am a huge De La Hoya fan. But, I disagree with those who think he should have earned at least a draw. Mayweather, landed a lot more and his defense was inpenetrable. A lot of people dont like Mayweather because he's arrogant and he doesnt get into wars in the ring. The bottom line is he boxed intelligently. Was Oscar De La Hoya the aggressor? Yes. But, the rounds arent scored on whose more aggressive; they are scored on who landed punches. I had it 116-112 Mayweather. And, yes..there'll be a rematch!

Enjoy RD 3 of the NHL Playoffs. Ciao for now.

I still like Buffalo......

Since our last post, nothing surprising to report.....no real upsets in Round 1...I picked the NYR to beat Atlanta, but didn't think they would sweep them in 4. Atlanta is a mess. They have a bunch of individuals there; its not a team. Too many me, myself and I players....with Kovalchuk leading the way in that category. I wasn't high on the trading for Tkachuk and Zhitnik either. Surely, GM Don Waddell regrets acquiring those 2 players....

As for the other series, I was hoping Pittsburgh would have made it tougher for Ottawa....The Penguins I believe, along with Buffalo, were the most exciting teams during the NHL Regular Season and I wanted to see more of them. Clearly Ottawa was just too deep and too strong. For the Pens, not enough experience. They will be back and their time will come. Word has it, Ray Shero is hoping to extend the contract of coach Michel Therrien and you know what......Michel Mon Belle deserves to be back....I have to admit, I never thought I would say this after the whole Bill Lindsay taking the faceoff mess in 2002 vs Carolina. Nor, did I think I would say it after his Montreal team constantly gave up 35+ shots per game.....Nor, did I think I would say it after Therrien said his team needed to give up less than 15 scoring chances per game....And finally, I never thought I would say this after Therrien crushed his players with a 1 minute rant last year following a loss in Edmonton. BUT, here goes....Therrien, has grown as a coach. He is a better tactician and a much better communicator. He handles himself a lot better and is much more composed. Does he still have some things to learn? YES. To start, he has to give Crosby more icetime...makes sense, he's the best player in the league. But like I said, he's growing and deserves to be back behind the bench. All that being said, I would give him a 1, maybe 2 year deal.

Here are my Round 2 predictions (with certainty): Buffalo and Anaheim. (not certain): NJ and Detroit......the opposite result (Ott & SJ)wouldnt surprise me one bit....what I can tell you is I have liked Buffalo to win the Cup for months and Im not changing my mind. They have coaching, solid goaltending, 6 D that can move the puck and 4 line depth with quick strike offense.

Here in Montreal,,,,,same old....same old.....Kovalev not happy; complaining about his situation to a Russian Daily Paper.....Mind you, a lot of the things he said were true. HOWEVER, if Kovalev wants to be true to himself; he should take 1 long look in the mirror and blame himself for not delivering the goods....It just seems like AK27 is trying to jet from Montreal to another destination next year....If he needs a lift to the Airport, ''Fillipo the Taxi Driver'' has already volunteered.....

Talk to you in a bit.

Canadiens didnt deserve to make playoffs!

Back in 2005-06, the Montreal Candiens finished 7th in the Eastern Conference with 93 points. Come Late-September, many people believed the Canadiens would be better with Samsonov, Johnson, and Latendresse than they would be with Zednik, Bulis and Sundstrom. Although, the Canadiens looked sexier on paper, I said they would finish 8th, this time around. I remember going to the Bell Center later that day. As soon as I entered the Media Room, Mtl Gazette Columnist Pat Hickey looked and me and said, ''How can you pick them to finish 8th, they're a lot better team than they were last season. I looked at him and said, ''Im not sure about that, Pat.'' He said why not? I replied, three reasons Pat. (1) I needed to see if Huet could repeat (2) I wasn't sold on the coaching staff, two of which were rookie coaches and (3) I thought other teams got better. When all was said and done, I was wrong about the 8th spot, they finished in 10th (2 points out of 8th); however, I was right about the Habs not being better than they were in 05-06.

This past Thursday on the Montreal Forum, I was asked to predict the final 2 games, Mtl in NY and Mtl in Toronto. I predicted the Canadiens would lose both. Had the games been in Montreal, it would have been a different story. Montreal had won 9 straight at home. However, ''Road Warriors'' the Canadiens are not. They went into their game against the NYR with only 2 wins in their last 9 road games. Meanwhile, NYR were 12-2-2-2 in their past 18. Toronto had won 8 straight at home. I said it before, and I will say it again. The Montreal Canadiens are a Homer Team. They had a chance to get rid of that label and make the playoffs by winning their last game. Despite being up 5-3, they failed to do so. BTW, I flew to Toronto on Saturday afternoon to cover the game. Out of all the players I talked too after the game, the guy that really took the loss badly was Chris Higgins. He was holding back tears....he my friends, is ''The Real McCoy.''

Want an interesting stat? Going into the last game in Toronto, the 1st line duo of Koivu and Ryder had 1 even strength goal on the road since December 1st. The duo of Downey and Murray (a couple of 5th liners) had 2 goals. Pathetic. This team DEFINITELY didnt deserve to make the playoffs.

So lets look at the Good:
markov, komisarek, souray on the PP, ryder when he shoots and does nothing else but shoots, plekanec, streit, halak, lapierres energy, flashes of kostitsyn's ability, 16 goals from latendresse , higgins dominating before the ankle injury and dominating again in the final game, koivu's career high 22 goals, and huet for a couple of months.

The In-Between:
bonk, johnson, perezoghin, begin (only because his Hits Per Game stats are up there)

The Ugly:
Samsonov (bust) , Kovalev (no longer a clutch performer), Niinimaa (damaged goods), Aebischer (a technical disaster in goal), the d-men struggling to get the puck out of the zone (with the exception of markov), the dumb penalties they took in the final game (johnson, begin, koivu), the not showing up for the start of the game (8 out of 10 games) The Minus Stats from their top players...

As for The Management Team and Coaching Staff:
Two weeks prior to the trade deadline, I said the Canadiens should be ''Sellers'' and never changed my mind. The organization decided differently. Six weeks later their season is over and they are left with bigtime off-season decisions. The Mangement Team & Coaching Staff, did some good things and some not so good things. But, at the end of the day when the goal is to make the playoffs and you don't; you have failed.

Congrats to the NYI for making the playoffs. Good to see a team rewarded for pulling the trigger on Feb 27th the way they did; and for not giving up when their #1 goalie got hurt. And, btw Ted Nolan could coach my team any day! Unfortunately for the NYI, their season won't last much longer. I'm picking BUFFALO to win the Stanley Cup.

Playoffs start Wednesday. Enjoy.